Reclining chairs

ABSTRACT

788,410. Reclining chairs. RESEARCH INTERESTS. Ltd. July 10, 1956 [July 25, 1955], No. 21494/55. Class 52(2) A reclining chair with tilting back and seat operating as described in Specification 788,096, has a headrest pivoted to the back by a plate 13 and a pivot pin 11 and connected by a linkage consisting of members 14, 16, 18 to link 9 of the seat and back operating mechanism so that as the chair is tilted rearwardly into the reclined position the headrest is moved forwardly to support the users head in a raised position. In a modification (Fig. 3) the headrest is connected to link 9 by a single link and in a further modification the lower end of the link is connected to the seat frame. Specification 788,095 also is referred to in the Provisional Specification.

Oct. 24, 1961 J. I. WlNlCK 3,005,660

RECLINING CHAIRS Filed July 17, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 1 A ttorney;

Oct. 24, 1961 J. l. WlNlCK 3,005,660

RECLINING CHAIRS Filed July 17, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 In enlor W LamWW1.

By L

Attorney;

Oct. 24, 1961 Filed July 17, 1956 J. l. WlNlCK RECLINING CHAIRS 5Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 4cz [5,440 Mv/ce 3,005,660 RECLINHQG CHAIRSJack Isaac Winick, London, England, assignor, by mcsne assignments, toAnton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla. Filed July 17, 1956, Ser. No. 598,327Claims priority, application Great Britain July 25, 1955 2 Claims. (Cl.29761) This invention relates to reclining chairs, i.e. chairs of thekind having a tilting back and a tilting seat which are interconnectedfor co-related movement.

The object of the invention is to render a chair of this kind morecomfortable by providing it with a headrest which is automaticallyadjusted to support the users head in a raised position when the chairis set to a reclined position.

According to the invention in a reclining chair of the above kind, theback of the chair is pivoted at its lower end for angular movement aboutan axis extending transversely of the chair, and is provided with aheadrest which is supported on said chair back for pivotal movementabout an axis extending transversely thereof, said headrest beingconnected at a point spaced radially from its pivotal axis to one end ofa linkage whose other end is connected to a point of attachment locatedadjacent the bottom of the chair back and spaced radially from thepivotal axis thereof such that as the chair back is tilted rearwardlyinto a reclined position the linkage automatically adjusts the headrestabout its pivotal axis to support the users head in a raised position.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a reclining chair embodying theimproved headrest and with the chair back in the erect position,

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a reclining chair similar to FIG. 1but shovwng the chair in the fully reclined position,

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of a reclining chair similar to FIG. 1but showing an alternative form of linkage, and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing an alternative location for thepoint of attachment of the lower end of the linkage.

The invention is shown applied to a form of reclining chair in which thechair back and the chair seat are independently mounted for tiltingmovement within the chair frame, said seat and back being interconnectedfor co-related movement by means including a lever mechanism which formsa support for the seat and has a sliding connection therewith, the pointof application of said seat supporting means being displaced as thelever mechanism rocks to vary the angle of the seat.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the chair showncomprises a side frame structure 1 embodying a fixed side rail 2 uponwhich is pivotally mounted at 25 adjacent its rear end the side rail 3of the movable seat structure, the side rail 4 of the movable backstructure being pivotally supported at its lower end on a pin 5 carriedby a plate 6 fixed to the chair frame 1. The socket engaging the pin 5is formed in a plate 7 secured to the outer face of the back framemember 4 and, at a point 8 below and rearward of the pin 5, a seatactuating link 9 is pivotally connected to said plate, the link beingconnected by pivot 27 to the lever mechanism 26 by which the forward endof the seat is raised upon rearward tilting of the chair back.

The lever 26 is pivoted intermediate its ends at 28 to the fixed siderail 2, and carries at its free end a roller 29. The roller 29 engagesthe lower surface of the seat side States Pa 0 rail 3, being guided forrolling movement therealong by a guide bracket 30.

. Referring now to the features of the present invention, there isprovided on the chair back a separate headrest comprising two end piecesor frame members, one of which is indicated at 10, said end pieces beingrigidly interconnected, for example, by a cross bar 10a, and theheadrest. being upholstered independently of the chair back proper. Theend piece 10 is pivotally mounted at its lower end and adjacent itsforward edge to the upper end of the back frame member 4, thearrangement shown consisting of a pivot pin 11 carried by a plate 12secured to the member 4 and engaged by a socket in a plate 13 secured tothe end piece 10. The linkage for adjusting the headrest comprises afirst link 14 connected at its upper end to a plate 31 on the end piece10 at a point 15 spaced rearwardly from the pivot 11, and a second link16 connected at its lower end to the seat actuating link 9 at a point 17below the pivot 5. At their other ends, the links 14, 16 are connectedone to each end of a short cross lever 18 pivoted intermediate its endson a plate 19 secured on the inner face of the back frame member 4.

It will be seen that with the arrangement described, rearward tilting ofthe chair back into a reclined position produces a forward and downwardmovement of the seat actuating link 9 which thereby exerts a downwardpull on the link 16 and, through the cross lever 18, pushesthe link 14upwardly. This pivots the headrest upwardly and forwardly so that itprojects at an angle from the back of the chair to support the head ofthe person seated therein in a raised position. When the chair back ismoved forward again the links are moved in the reverse directions andthe headrest is thereby restored to its original position.

The degree of movement imparted to the headrest is dependent upon thespacing of the pivots 11, 15 and the relative lengths of the two arms ofthe cross lever 18 and by appropriate choice of these factors it ispossible to secure any desired degree of movement of the headrest for agiven displacement of the chair back.

The back frame member 4 may terminate immediately above the pivots 11,15 as indicated at 20, or it may be extended as indicated at 21 in chainlines and shaped to conform to the curvature of the headrest. The backis upholstered, the extensions 21 where provided being coveredindividually, and thus the headrest actuating linkage is totallyenclosed and in no way detracts from the appearance of the chair.

It will be understood that the link-age for producing movement of theseat constitutes a constrained four-bar linkage in which the threemovable links are the portion of the back frame member 4 between thepivots 5 and 8, the lever '26, and the seat actuating link 9. The fixedlink of the four-bar linkage constitutes the pivotal mount 5 of the backframe member 4 and the pivotal mount 28 of the lever 26. Theaforementioned four-bar linkage is actuated upon rearward tiltingmovement of the back frame member 4 to move the seat actuating link 9forwardly and thus raise the forward portion of the seat side rail 3through the lever 26. The headrest adjusting linkage is also operativelyconnected to the four-bar linkage for actuation thereby through thepivotal connection 17 of link 16 to seat actuating link 9.

In an alternative construction shown in FIG. 3, the links 14, 16 andcross lever 18 are substituted by a single link 22, the headrest pivot11a in this instance being placed nearer to the rear edge of the framemembers and the connection 15a on the upper end of the link being spacedforwardly of said pivot. Furthermore, in either of the alternativeconstructions above described, the lower end of the linkage need notnecessarily be attached to a movable member. For example, as shown inFIG. 4, said linkage may have a fixed point of attachment on a pin 23mounted on a plate 24 fixed to the chair frame, said pin being spacedforward of, or forward and downward of, the back ,pivot 5 so that onrearward tilting of the back the link 16 or 22 is displaced downwardrelative to the chair back.

I claim: V e

1. A reclining chair comprising a frame structure, a chair backpivotally mounted at its lower end on said frame structure, a seatpivotally mounted at its rear end on said frame structure at a pointspaced from the pivotal mount of the chair back thereon, a four-baractuating linkage for tilting the seat in response to pivoting movementof the chair back, said actuating linkageincluding as movable links anextension of the chair back depending below the pivotal mount thereof, aseat control lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the framestructure forwardly of the chair back, the upper portion of the seatcontrol lever being operatively coupled to the seat, and a seatactuating link mounted at one end on said chair back extension and atthe other end on the lower portion of said seat control lever, theportion of the frame structure between the pivotal mounts of the chairback and seat control lever constituting the fixed link of the four-barlinkage, the seat actuating link being disconnected from the framestructure and translating forwardly in response to rearward tiltingmovement of the chair back, a headrest hingedly mounted on the upper endof the chair back for pivotal movement relative to the plane of saidchair back, a head-rest actuating on said frame structure at a pointspaced from the pivotal mount of the chair back thereon, a four-baractuating linkage for tilting the seat in response to pivoting movementof the chair back, said actuating linkage including as movable links anextension of the chair back depending below the pivotal mount thereof, aseat control lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the framestructure forwardly of the chair back, the upper portion of said seatcontrol lever being operatively coupled to the seat, and a seatactuating link mounted at one end on said chair back extension and atthe other end on the lower portion of said seat control lever, theportion of the frame structure between the pivotal mounts of the chairback and seat control lever constituting the fixed link of the four-barlinkage, the seat actuating link being disconnected from the framestructure and translating forwardly in response to rearward tiltingmovement of the chair back, a head-rest hingedly mounted on the upperend of the chair back for pivotal movement relative to the plane of saidchair back, a head-rest actuating link extending along the chair backand pivotally connected at its upper end to the head-rest, the lower endof said head-rest actuating link being pivotally mounted on said seatactuating link for forward and downward movement by actuation of thefour-bar linkage, whereby to tilt the head-rest forwardly when the chairback is tilted rearwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS242,733 Yengling June 7, 1881 305,845 Poolman Sept. 30, 1884 426,948McGrew Apr. 29, 1890 469,357 Meigs Feb. 23, 1892 711,412 ArchambeaultOct. 14, 1902 2,660,225 Luckhardt Nov. 24, 1953 2,843,184 Lorenz July15,1958 2,870,822 Luckhardt Ian. 27, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 10,205 GermanyJuly 2, 1880

